Alexander Cartwright Alexander Cartwright Nationality: United States Executive summary: Original rules of baseball Alexander "Alick" Cartwright worked as a clerk for a broker and later for a bank, and, weather permitting, played variations of cricket and rounders in the vacant lots of New York City after the bank closed each day. In 1845 he joined the New York Knickerbockers, a club that played under what were called "New York rules", as distinguished from other clubs that played a similar game called town ball under "Massachusetts rules". Cartwright organized the team with a constitution and bylaws, and suggested that they could arrange more games and the sport would be more widely-played if it had a single set of agreed-upon "Knickerbocker rules". Cartwright chaired a committee of four Knickerbocker players that drew up a set of rules generally seen as the founding moment for modern baseball. The changes in these new rules included the distinction between fair and foul territory, and the requirement that runners be put out by being tagged with a ball in a fielder's control -- previously, runners could be tagged by being hit with a thrown ball, which sometimes left runners not just "out" but out cold.

Knickerbocker rules also stipulated that the bases be laid out in a diamond array with 42 paces between home plate and second base, and the same distance between first and third bases, which works out to bases about 90 feet apart, the same distance as in today's game. He left the Knickerbockers to follow the California gold rush in March 1849, and took with him his ball and rulebook. In his letters from the cross-country trip he wrote of playing baseball games with locals as he journeyed west. He made a small gold strike in California, and used his earnings to pay passage to Hawaii, where he worked as a bookkeeper for a ship chandlery business, and introduced baseball to other settlers. Cartwright had been a volunteer firefighter in New York City, and was appointed Honolulu's Fire Chief in 1851 by King Kamehameha III. A prolific reader, he was a co-founder of the Honolulu Library and Reading Room, forerunner of Hawaii's present-day state library system.

He successfully fought to block a rule that would have prohibited women and children from becoming library members, writing, "What makes us old geezers think we are the only ones to be spiritually and morally uplifted by a public library in this city?� Baseballs and gloves are often laid at his gravesite in Oahu Cemetery. [ edit ] Biographical Information Alexander Cartwright is considered by some to be the true father of the sport of baseball, although his story may be as much of a myth as that of Abner Doubleday inventing the game in the pastoral setting of Cooperstown, NY . According to The Baseball Book , "Cartwright, a surveyor, laid out the field with the bases 90 feet apart and drew up rules (including three strikes and three outs ) for the first game played between organized teams, in Hoboken, New Jersey , in 1846 ." While it played its games in Hoboken, the team that Cartwright organized in 1845 took the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club of New York name. [1] Cartwright worked in New York City , but he and his friends played ball in Hoboken because that's where there were open spaces at the time.

Even there, though, civilization was encroaching, with a glue factory being built on one side of their field and a couple of roads also infringing on their space. Part of Cartwright's alleged genius was to design a diamond and have the batters face out toward an outfield . That way, the glue factory and the road wouldn't be a major problem and the other road was in the far outfield, which was also not a problem. Cartwright was also insistent that his set of rules be the only rules by which his team would play. [2] His rule-set was popular, but of course other people came up with other approaches. One in particular, the Boston rules (also called the " Massachusetts game "), were an alternative that still existed when Ty Cobb was a youth, because he remembered that people would sometimes play by those rules. Cartwright moved to Honolulu, HI in 1849, first moving west to take advantage of the California Gold Rush, and taught the game to locals there (while also serving as the Honolulu fire chief). Many years later, Babe Ruth visited Hawaii and honored Cartwright's memory. Cartwright's involvement with baseball represented only a small portion of a busy life as an adventurer, business man and family man.

For his part, he counted his role as Hawaii's first fire chief as his proudest accomplishment. For many decades, Doubleday was honored as the father of baseball, due to the desire of Al Spalding to have a Civil War hero as the inventor of the game. An elderly engineer who had been with Doubleday many decades earlier testified in the early 20th century to the Mills Commission that Doubleday had invented the game, but it seems clear at this point that the man simply got his dates badly mixed up. However, the evidence behind Cartwright being more than one member of a group of New Yorkers who only refined and popularized a pre-existing game is just as flimsy, based on notes by one sportswriter, Thomas Rankin, who wrote about it many decades after the fact and then embellished the story a number of times. The myth of his having single-handedly invented baseball was picked up by a number of writers however, and gained momentum in the first decades of the 20th century.

Cartwright's grandson, Bruce Cartwright, launched a campaign in 1938 to have his grandfather's contributions to the beginnings of the game recognized and sent evidence of his role to the newly-formed Hall of Fame . This led to Cartwright being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on September 13 , 1938 by the Centennial Commission as one of the pioneers in the game. August 26 , 1939 was declared Alexander Cartwright Day throughout Major League Baseball, to coincide with the centennial anniversary of the game. Hawaiian-themed celebrations were put on in all ballparks and at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. The main focus of events was Ebbets Field , in Brooklyn, NY , where Hawaii official William McGonagle made a speech about Cartwright's accomplishments between the two games of a doubleheader and read a message from the territory's Governor, while leis and pineapple juice were offered to players from both teams. This date made history for other reasons as well, as the first game of the doubleheader, Cincinnati's 5-2 win over Brooklyn , was the first MLB game to ever be shown on television, courtesy of NBC 's experimental station W2XBS.

There is a myth in circulation on the internet that Congress formally recognized Cartwright as the inventor of baseball on May 3 , 1953. However, research by legal archivist Adam Berenbak proved that this never happened, and that they myth took hold in the early 1990s for reasons unknown. There has been other revisionism about Cartwright's role, led by historian John Thorn , as it is clear that some form of baseball was played before the Knickerbocker Rules were put in place, and that many of the innovations credited to Cartwright have other sources. Just as the Doubleday legend was built on very flimsy evidence, a counter Cartwright legend also exists that has just as little basis in substantiated facts. Still, he remains a key figure in the early development of baseball. [ edit ] Further Reading Frank Ardolino: "National Cartwright Day and the First Televised Major-League Game", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR , Volume 37, 2008, pp. 15-17. Adam Berenbak: "Henderson, Cartwright, and the 1953 US Congress", The Baseball Research Journal, Vol.

43, number 2, Fall 2014, pp. 34-35. Richard Hershberger: "The Creation of the Alexander Cartwright Myth", The Baseball Research Journal, SABR , Volume 43, Number 1 (spring 2014), pp. 13-21. Jay Martin: Live All You Can: Alexander Joy Cartwright and the Invention of Modern Baseball, Columbia University press, New York, NY, 2009. Monica Nucciarone: Alexander Cartwright: The Life Behind the Baseball Legend, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2009. Harold Peterson: Alexander Cartwright: The Man Who Invented Baseball, Scribner, New York, NY, 1973. William J. Ryczek: "Two New Biographies of Alexander Cartwright", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR , Volume 38, Number 2, (Fall 2009), pp. 145-146. John Thorn : Baseball in the Garden of Eden: the Secret History of the Early Game, Simon and Schuster, New York, NY, 2011.

Baseball History: 19th Century Baseball: The Rules Evolution of 19th Century Baseball Rules erhaps no other American sport has had the extensive number of rule changes that have occurred during the evolution of base ball. Rarely has one aspect of the game under gone only one change. These changes were due to the following factors. The players and managers learned how to circumvent the rules almost yearly, the players became better athletes which required the game to be constantly balanced between offense and defense and the owners wanted an appealing game to their paying patrons. What follows is a synopsis of rule changes that have occurred from 1845–1900. Click here for The Rules of the Game: A Compilation of the Rules of Baseball 1845–1900. 1845 The first important set of written rules was scribed by Alexander Cartwright, of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, and published on September 20, 1845. These 20 rules became known as the " Knickerbocker Rules ." The "original 20 rules of baseball" were not very specific and only 14 actually were rules pertaining to the field and the play.

One significant rule, Rule 13, stated that a player could not be put out by being hit by a thrown ball. 1854 Prior to the famous Base Ball Convention in 1857 was a meeting that occurred between three New York teams on April 1, 1854, in New York City. The teams in attendance were Knickerbocker, Gotham and the Eagle clubs and they revised the "original 20 Rules." One important addition was rule 13 which stated that the first "striker" or batter of the following inning would be the batter who proceeds the player who made the third "hand," or out. 1857 The Base Ball Convention of 1857 held in New York on January 22, by former Knickerbocker President Daniel "Doc" Adams, was the first convention of its kind. Over a dozen clubs sent delegates to the meetings. During this convention Adams was elected President of the Convention and headed the Committee on Rules and Regulations. Adams changed the length of the game to nine equal innings, instead of declaring the first team to score 21 "aces" or runs, the winner.

Adams also declared that five innings must be played to be declared a game. He set the distance between bases at 30 yards. It has been assumed that the distance was 30 paces between all bases although this distance was never specified in the original Knickerbocker Rules. The only mention of distance is listed in Rule 4 and states; "The bases shall be from "home" to second base, 42 paces; from first to third base, 42 paces, equidistant." The definition of a pace from An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828: Pace: "1. A step. 2. The space between the two feet in walking, estimated at two feet and a half. But the geometrical pace is five feet, or the whole space passed over by the same foot from one step to another." The definition was not changed for Webster's 1853-revised edition) This means that the distance from home to second would have been 105 feet and the Cartwright base paths would have been 74.25 feet. The pitching distance was also not described in the Knickerbocker Rules.

Adams set the distance from the 12' pitcher's line (which is centered to an imaginary line that is between home base and second base and extends from third to first) to home base at 45 feet. It was agreed upon that if the striker swung and missed at three pitched balls and the third pitched ball was caught on the first bound or on the fly, the batter was out. If it was not caught on the first bound or the fly the batter must attempt to "make his first," or run to first. No ace or base could be made upon a foul ball, or when a fair ball has been caught without having touched the ground; and the ball shall, in both instances, be considered dead and not in play, until it shall first have been settled in the hands of the pitcher. When a fair ball has been caught without having touched the ground, the players running the bases shall have the privilege of returning to them. Adams also advocated the catching a ball on the fly to put a batter out, but was rejected. 1858 For the first time the umpire is allowed to call strikes on a batter that repeatedly refuses not swing at good balls. The umpire was required to warn the striker before calling a strike.

After three strikes were called, the batter was bound to "make his run" to first base if the last called strike was not caught by the catcher on the fly or first bound. 1860 The striker is required to stand on a line that extends three feet on either side of home base and is parallel to the pitcher's line. The umpire was instructed to warn a batter, before calling strikes, if he repeatedly did not strike at fair pitched balls. After three called strikes and the last strike caught on the first bound or the fly the batter was out. If the ball was not caught on the first bound or the fly the batter had to make his first. Little League Baseball Rules Flat Brim Hats Little League Baseball Rules Little league baseball rules are designed to make the game of baseball fair and equitable for all players. You can't "play the game" if you don't know the rules! Little League Rules Compared to Official Rules of Baseball compared This comparison was made a few years back in 1997. Junior League and Senior League rules differ from Little League rules. The comparisons made here are differences between Little League and the official baseball rules proposed by various official leagues, associations, and clubs.

The 2006 Baseball age determination chart (opens in PDF) Rule changes for 2003. Examples of Local Rules Issaquah Little League is in Issaquah, Washington, and have the motto "Character, Courage, and Loyalty." Their Rules website page was updated in March, 2003: Zionsville (Indiana) has their different years' rules online: 2002 Rules (You may have to save the download to your computer and then open it up.) Maid, California, Little League Baseball lists their summary of rules and then go on to list greater details: Message Boards Excellent Youth Baseball Message Board that is used heavily. Three areas of discussion are Rules and Umpires, General and Coaches, and Batting and Throwing. History Read the Little League Baseball Historical Timeline from 1938 to the present. The "Official" Baseball History Website: an interactive baseball encyclopedia filled with thousands of pages full of facts and statistics. Repeatedly recognized as THE online source for baseball related information, Baseball Almanac has something for everyone. What is Little League Baseball? What does "Little League" mean?

Little League is an international baseball organization for children and teenagers with an age range from five years to sixteen years. It was started in 1939 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, by Carl E. Stotz and Bert and George Bebble. Millions of children around the world and in more than 100 countries can attest that baseball, softball and Little League are synonymous. Little League is a program for youth. It is geared to provide an outlet of healthful activity and training under good leadership in the atmosphere of wholesome community participation. Little League Baseball is dedicated to helping children become good and decent citizens. It inspires them with a goal and enriches their lives towards the day when they take their places in the world. It establishes the values of teamwork, sportsmanship and fair play. Everyone is encouraged to teach children how to play and enjoy these great games. Alexander Joy Cartwright was the chief codifier of the baseball rules from which the present rules were developed. Every Little League age group has it's own set of rules, applicable for the age group. However, all of the basic rules of the game apply. As the players ages increase more regular baseball rules are added.

When the players reach about age 12 or 13 most of the same rules applicable to playing Major League Baseball apply. When a player is 7 or 8 catching a batted fly ball is a major accomplishment, and running the bases often looks more like a track meet, so some of the more sophisticated rules wouldn't be appropriate to the typical skill level. Each summer, the Little League World Series is played worldwide over an eight-week time span. Read all about it here: Knickerbocker Baseball Rules by Alexander J. Cartwright September 23, 1845 1ST. Members must strictly observe the time agreed upon for exercise, and be punctual in their attendance. 2ND. When assembled for exercise, the President, of in his absence, the Vice-President, shall appoint an Umpire, who shall keep the game in a book provided for that purpose, and note all violations of the By-Laws and Rules during the time of exercise. 3RD.

The presiding officer shall designate two members as Captains, who shall retire and make the match to be played, observing at the same time that the player's opposite to each other should be as nearly equal as possible, the choice of sides to be then tossed for, and the first in hand to be decided in like manner. 4TH. The bases shall be from "home" to second base, forty-two paces; from first to third base, forty-two paces, equidistant. 5TH. No stump match shall be played on a regular day of exercise. 6TH. If there should not be a sufficient number of members of the Club present at the time agreed upon to commence exercise, gentlemen not members may be chosen in to make up the match, which shall not be broken up to take in members that may afterwards appear; but in all cases, members shall have the preference, when present, at the making of the match. 7TH. If members appear after the game is commenced, they may be chosen in if mutually agreed upon. 8TH. The game to consist of twenty-one counts, or aces; but at the conclusion an equal number of hands must be played. 9TH.

The ball must be pitched, not thrown, for the bat. 10TH. A ball knocked out of the field, or outside the range of the first and third base, is foul. 11TH. Three balls being struck at and missed and the last one caught, is a hand-out; if not caught is considered fair, and the striker bound to run. 12TH. If a ball be struck, or tipped, and caught, either flying or on the first bound, it is a hand out. 13TH. A player running the bases shall be out, if the ball is in the hands of an adversary on the base, or the runner is touched with it before he makes his base; it being understood, however, that in no instance is a ball to be thrown at him. 14TH. A player running who shall prevent an adversary from catching or getting the ball before making his base, is a hand out. 15TH. Three hands out, all out. 16TH. Players must take their strike in regular turn. 17TH. All disputes and differences relative to the game, to be decided by the Umpire, from which there is no appeal. 18TH.

No ace or base can be made on a foul strike. 19TH. A runner cannot be put out in making one base, when a balk is made on the pitcher. 20TH. But one base allowed when a ball bounds out of the field when struck. The Knickerbocker Rules by Alexander J. Cartwright The Knickerbocker Rules and Regulations are one of the most important famous firsts in the history of our national pastime. Share with us any other early rules you might have and we'll reprint them here as well. Click The Rules Page Above to "See" The Rules in a Slideshow Format The text above for the Knickerbocker Rules by Alexander Cartwright is a word-for-word transcript of the exact rules written in 1845. The slide show with images of the actual pages from the rules (reprinted by the Farmers Museum, Cooperstown, ca. 1990) has been added for your enjoyment. Did you know that there is not a privately held copy of the original Knickerbocker Rules by Alexander Cartwright and the only known originals belong to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York?

History of Baseball - Alexander Cartwright History of Baseball Share By Mary Bellis Americans began playing baseball on informal teams, using local rules, in the early 1800s. By the 1860s, the sport, unrivaled in popularity, was being described as America's "national pastime." Alexander Cartwright Alexander Cartwright (1820-1892) of New York invented the modern baseball field in 1845. Alexander Cartwright and the members of his New York Knickerbocker Base Ball Club, devised the first rules and regulations that were accepted for the modern game of baseball. Rounders Baseball was based on the English game of rounders. Rounders become popular in the United States in the early 19th century , where the game was called "townball", "base", or "baseball". Alexander Cartwright formalized the modern rules of baseball. Yes, others were making their own versions of the game at the time, however, the Knickerbockers style of the game was the one that became the most popular.

History of Baseball - Knickerbockers The first recorded baseball game was held in 1846 when Alexander Cartwright's Knickerbockers lost to the New York Baseball Club. continue reading below our video How to Negotiate Your Bills Lower The game was held at the Elysian Fields , in Hoboken, New Jersey. In 1858, the National Association of Base Ball Players, the first organized baseball league was formed. History of Baseball Trivia 1845: Alexander Cartwright published a set of baseball rules for the Knickerbocker Club of New York, and his rules were widely adopted. 1869: The Cincinnati Red Stockings became the first openly-salaried team and are thus considered the first professional team. 1871: The first professional baseball league, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players, was established. 1876: The first major league, the National League, was formed. 1878: Frederick Winthrop Thayer of Massachusetts (captain of the Harvard University Baseball Club) received a patent for a baseball catcher's mask on February 12.

Alexander Cartwright Biography Store Alexander Cartwright Biography Alexander Joy Cartwright (April 17, 1820 – July 12, 1892) was an American engineer who has as good a claim as any as the inventor of baseball. Cartwright was a member of the New York Knickerbockers, who played a brand of stick-and-ball game called the town game. In 1845 Cartwright and a committee from his club drew up rules converting this playground game into more elaborate and interesting sport to be played by adults. The Knickerbockers participated in the first game under these rules on June 19, 1846. The Knickerbockers lost 23-1. Cartwright left New York to mine gold in California in 1849. He fell ill and settled in Hawai'i. A citizen of Hawai'i, Cartwright became a successful Honolulu businessman. There, Cartwright established the first baseball league composed of teams he created from throughout the Hawaiian islands. His Hawaiian leagues became a model for the modern American and National Leagues of today. In 1938, Cartwright was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The "Knickerbocker Rules" While there are many differences between the modern rules of baseball and the so-called Knickerbocker Rules (as adopted September 23, 1845 by the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club), there are also many similarities. Similarities between the Knickerbockers' rules and the rules of today include: * there are four bases laid out in a square. * the bases are approximately 90 feet apart. * balls hit outside of first or 3rd base are foul. * there are three "hands out" per inning. * teams play an equal number of "hands", or innings. * the striker must swing and miss three times to strike out. * on the third swinging strike, the "striker" (batter) may run to first if the catcher does not catch the ball on the fly or on one bounce. * runners may put out by being tagged or forced. * a runner cannot be put out by "soaking" (hitting them with a thrown ball). * throwing at a runner is prohibited. Differences between the Knickerbocker rules and the rules of today include: * foul balls were not considered strikes. * there are no called strikes.

* the game continues until one team scores 21 "aces" (runs), provided that an equal number of hands (innings) have been played. * the ball must be pitched underhand. * a "striker" (batter) is out if a fair or foul ball is caught on the fly or the first bounce. All base runners may advance on a fair ball caught on the first bounce. Major changes to the Knickerbocker rules: * 1857; January 22 - the nine inning game is introduced. * 1858 - called strikes are introduced. * 1864; December 14 - a batter is no longer out if a fair struck ball is caught on one bounce. Foul balls caught on the first bounce are still outs. Questions Although there is no question that Cartwright was a prominent figure in the early development of baseball, some authors who are students of baseball history have suggested that there has been some embellishment of Cartwright's role. The primary complaint is that touting Cartwright as the "true" inventor of the modern game was an effort to find an alternative individual to counter the clearly mythical "invention" of baseball by Abner Doubleday.

Some authors have also questioned the supposed "first game" under the new rules. The Knickerbockers' scorebook shows games during 1845 also. Those who have studied the scorebook have concluded that the differences in the games of 1845 and 1846, compared with the specifications of the Knickerbocker rules, are minimal, such as fielding teams of 7 players instead of 9. Copyright © Sports-Facts.Com - "Alexander Cartwright Biography" Alexander Cartwright Facts LINK / CITE ADD TO WORD LIST Alexander Cartwright Facts Contrary to the official myth about the origin of the sport, Alexander Cartwright (1820-1898) is the man who should be credited with doing the most to invent the modern game of baseball. In 1845, Cartwright laid out the key rules of the game, including the dimensions of the field. He was enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame even as baseball's establishment propagated a myth that Civil War General Abner Doubleday invented baseball.

In 1846, Cartwright and other members of the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club played the first recognized baseball game in Hoboken, New Jersey, at a park called the Elysian Fields. Cartwright later traveled west across the United States, spreading the game as far as California and Hawaii. But during his lifetime he was never properly credited by organized baseball for his pioneering efforts. From Rounders to Base Ball Baseball, commonly called America's national pastime, was adapted from a British game known as "rounders." Rounders was a simplified offshoot of cricket, and it was played primarily by children in Britain and in the British colonies of North America in the 1700s (and later in the United States in the 1800s). It was also sometimes called "base ball." Adults in some colonies, such as Massachusetts, played a version known as "town ball." In all these pick-up games, a pitcher threw a ball, an opponent used a stick or bat to strike it, and then the hitter attempted to run to one or more bases.

Runners were "put out" when fielders threw the ball and hit them; this was called "soaking." There were few if any standard rules to the game, and the number of players on a team, the number of bases, and the distances between the bases were largely a matter of local custom or pre-game negotiations. Alexander Cartwright was born in New York City on April 17, 1820. After leaving school at the age of 16, he became a clerk at a bank. Later on, he also became a volunteer fireman. In the evenings, Cartwright joined other young New York businessmen, lawyers and doctors who got together to play a version of rounders. Their sport came to be known as the "New York game" to distinguish it from the "Massachusetts game" of "town ball." For several years, Cartwright belonged to a group called the New York Base Ball Club. In 1845, some members of that group joined with others and organized a new group, the Knickerbocker Club. Cartwright was appointed secretary and vice-president of the club when it wrote down a formal constitution in September of that year.

Codified Rules of the Game Cartwright took a leadership role in suggesting to other members of the Knickerbocker Club that they write down a set of rules for the game they played. Up until then the traditions of the game had been passed down orally but never codified. Cartwright was one of four members who decided upon 14 written rules. The dimensions of Madison Square, where the Knickerbocker Club most often played, necessitated the most important rules. One rule eliminated the circular field common to cricket and established fair and foul territory. The club members limited the number of bases to four (including home plate), fixed them in the shape of a diamond, and set them 90 feet apart. Cartwright and the other Knickerbocker rule makers also outlawed the practice of soaking, because they considered it rude and ungentle-manly. The more genteel activities of tagging a runner with the ball, or getting the ball to a base before a runner reached that base, became the accepted ways to retire a runner. Cartwright later was credited with instituting two other key rule changes: setting the number of players at nine for each side, and fixing the length of a game at nine innings.

But baseball historians dispute whether Cartwright and the other Knickerbocker rule makers really should be credited with these innovations. For the first several years of their existence, the Knickerbockers usually played with eight men-three infielders (one standing near each base), three outfielders, a pitcher and a catcher. In other games they used 9, 10 or even 12 players. The position of shortstop apparently was not solidified until 1849, when it was established as a means of relaying throws from the outfield to the infield. (The ball used at the time was so light that players could not throw it all the way in from the outfield with one throw.) As far as the length of the game, it was not until 1857 that a convention of ball players decided upon nine innings; up until then, the first team to score 21 runs was generally the winner. Elysian Fields to Hawaii Once the Knickerbockers had agreed upon their rules, they began advertising for games. Their first opponent was a team called the New York Nine.

On June 19, 1846, the teams traveled from Manhattan across the Hudson River to Hoboken, New Jersey, and played the first recognized baseball game at a park known as the Elysian Fields. Cartwright, who wrote in his diary that he was one of the best Knickerbocker players, did not play in the first game. Instead, he served as umpire and collected a six-cent fine from any player who used profanity. Ironically, the Knickerbockers lost the game, under the rules they had invented, by the decisive score of 23 to 1. Cartwright remained with the Knickerbockers for four more years, during which the team played many other games with the New York Nine and other local clubs. Records of the games and of Cartwright's play are unavailable. Under the leadership of Cartwright and the other Knickerbockers, baseball soon became a favorite pastime for many young New York men. In those years it was not played by factory workers (who had no time or energy after their 12-hour or longer days) but mainly by clerks, attorneys, physicians and businessmen who had time after work to play in the late afternoons.

By early 1949, Cartwright, like thousands of other Americans, came down with a bad case of gold fever after hearing of the discoveries of gold in California. On March 1, he headed west, never to return to New York. As he journeyed across the country by train, by wagon and by foot, he took the game of baseball with him. Like the legendary Johnny Appleseed, Cartwright spread seeds for the sport that had become so popular in a few eastern cities. Among his stops was Cincinnati, which would be a cornerstone of the National League when it was formed in 1876. He made his way across the Great Plains and taught the sport of baseball to locals in many places. In August he arrived in San Francisco, but by then the great gold rush was over. Cartwright remained in San Francisco for six weeks, hoping that he still might strike gold somewhere. During that time he helped to establish the game of baseball in that city. He finally decided to return to New York, this time on a ship sailing across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. But he fell ill and was put ashore in Hawaii, then known as the Sandwich Islands.

Cartwright recovered from his illness and fell in love with the islands. He began teaching the islanders how to play baseball and forming local leagues. As a result of his activity, baseball became firmly established in Honolulu well before it was introduced to cities such as Detroit and Chicago. Back in New York City, the Knickerbockers and other clubs continued to play, and the game soon became popular all around the country. During the Civil War, troops played baseball during breaks in combat. Cartwright's wife and children joined him in 1851. He founded the Honolulu Fire Department and served as the city's fire chief for ten years. Cartwright set up a number of businesses and became a wealthy man as well as a civic leader. He served in several government positions, and helped to establish the islands' library system and one of its foremost hospitals. Cartwright never returned to the mainland to witness the spread of the game that he was so instrumental in popularizing. He died in Honolulu on July 12, 1898— largely unknown to the outside world. The first diamond he laid out is now called Cartwright Field. His grave has been visited by many famous baseball players, including Babe Ruth.

The Doubleday Myth Cartwright's place in baseball history was ignored for many decades. In the mid-1930s, the National Baseball Hall of Fame was opened in Cooperstown, New York. A commission of high-ranking baseball officials was set up to determine who should be credited with inventing the game. The real history of the sport was largely lost, but the commission was eager to discredit any link to the British sport of cricket. The commission fixated on an apocryphal story involving a Civil War hero, General Abner Doubleday. According to a myth that the leaders of baseball sanctioned, Doubleday invented baseball in a cow pasture in Cooperstown in 1838. Since the Hall of Fame was set to open in 1938, the story was a convenient fabrication—it posited that the museum was located in the birthplace of baseball, and that its opening would be a centennial. The commission ignored facts about baseball's true origins because it was determined that a genuine American hero be credited with inventing the national pastime. When Cartwright's descendants heard about the Doubleday story, they registered a protest.

Cartwright's grandson gave the Hall of Fame his grandfather's diaries as well as news clippings and other items that substantiated the role of Cartwright and the Knickerbockers in codifying many of the game's most important rules. However, the newspapers of the era carefully toed the official line because so much publicity had already been disseminated about Doubleday. So the public came to believe that Doubleday invented baseball. In fact, the general's connection to baseball was so tenuous that most historians believe he never even attended a game. With little fanfare, Cartwright was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1939. His plaque characterizes him as the "Father of Modern Base Ball." Doubleday, however, was never enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Yet baseball's officials never took any other action to recant the Doubleday myth. The fabrication took on the status of received truth. The field at Cooperstown is still called Doubleday Field. And more than 60 years later, most Americans continued to believe that Doubleday was baseball's inventor. The truth is more complicated. No single person invented baseball.

It was adapted from rounders and gradually shaped into a distinctive American sport. But as a leader of the Knickerbockers, the man who first set down rules in writing, and the game's first traveling ambassador, Alexander Cartwright fully deserves credit as baseball's founding father. Books Baseball History: 19th Century Baseball: The Game Baseball in Canada anada claims the first recorded account of a baseball game, which occurred in Beechville, Ontario on June 4, 1838, described in a detailed letter written by Dr. Adam E. Ford, but not published until 38 years later on May 5, 1886, in a magazine called Sporting Life. In this letter, the game was described as having five bases or "byes," base lines twenty-one yards in length and the distance from the pitcher to the home bye was fifteen yards. Innings determined the length of the game as opposed to playing to a specific number of runs. Fairly and unfairly pitched balls were described and techniques mentioned for the pitcher to make it difficult for the "knocker" to hit the ball. The differences between "fair and" "no-hit" balls were described and each side was given three outs per inning.

Baseball Makes News The earliest known newspaper account of a Baseball game in the United States was published on September 11, 1845, in the New York Morning News, which announced a game that occurred the previous day. The first recorded Baseball game was played on October 6, 1845 at Elysian Fields , in Hoboken, New Jersey by fourteen members of the New York Knickerbockers Club. One team may have been captained by Alexander Cartwright and the other by club president Duncan Curry. Curry's team won 11–8 in three innings. Between October 6 and November 18, 1845, the Knickerbockers may have played as many as fourteen more intra-squad games. Cartwright and the Knickerbockers Alexander Joy Cartwright (1820–1892) is often referred to as "The Father of Baseball" for his role in organizing a group of ballplayers whom he exercised with since 1842 into one of Baseball's first known teams, the New York Knickerbockers.

On September 23, 1845, by virtue of its constitution and by-laws, the Knickerbocker Base Ball Club was officially formed. Cartwright scribed twenty rules, which were published and became known as the "20 Original Rules of Baseball" or the "Knickerbocker Rules." The team's first elected officers were: Duncan Curry, President; William Wheaton, Vice President; and William Tucker, Secretary/Treasurer. Curry, Wheaton and Tucker comprised the Knickerbocker Committee on By-Laws and their names appeared on the signed by-laws document that contained the rules. The new rules changed Baseball in a number of ways—further differentiating it from Town Ball—three strikes to a batter, three outs to an inning, tags and force-outs in lieu of hitting a runner with a thrown ball, and the addition of an umpire. The 1845 rules also established the idea of "fair" and "foul" territory. Previously, the batter could run the bases any time he hit the ball, as in cricket.

The Knickerbocker version of the game became known as the "New York Game" distinguishing it from "Town Ball" and "The Massachusetts Game." Early on the Knickerbockers moved from the Murray Hill section of Manhattan to Hoboken, New Jersey to play their games at Elysian Fields . What is often referred to as the first recorded game played under the Knickerbocker Rules (now believed to be yet another intra-squad game), took place on June 19, 1846, when the Knickerbockers lost to the New York Baseball Club (aka "the New York Nine") 23–1 in four innings. The winning team was comprised mainly of Knickerbocker players. Cartwright umpired the contest and enforced a six-cent fine, payable on the spot, for swearing. A team called a “Picked Nine” or “The (blank) Nine,” most often referred to a team of players put together for that day or for a specific game. These players were not necessarily part of the same club.

Daniel "Doc" Adams Daniel "Doc" Adams (1814–1899) was elected President of the Knickerbockers in 1846. Two years later he headed the Committee to Revise the Constitution and By-Laws with Cartwright serving under him. Cartwright left New York on March 1, 1849, for the California Gold Rush and eventually ended up in Hawaii. Adams has been credited with "inventing" the 'short-fielder' or 'shortstop' position in 1849 or 1850. The position evolved because the baseballs used, handmade by Adams, were light and could not be thrown far. A non-base-tending player was needed to retrieve balls from the outfielders and return them to the pitcher. Under Adams’ presidency (1846–1862), the Knickerbocker Club became the model upon which all early clubs were organized. So dominant was the Knickerbocker Club during the 1840's and 1850's, that they transformed Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey into the first great center of Baseball activity in the United States.

The First Base Ball Convention Considered by some to be the true "Father of Baseball," "Doc" Adams was elected president of the first Base Ball Convention in 1857. He also headed the Committee on Rules and Regulations that year, which instituted the following rules: nine equal innings for a full game, five equal innings for a complete game, 30 yard distance between the four bases, the pitching distance should be 45 feet and he also stated that nine men should comprise a team. With the rules better defined and with the success of the 1857 convention, the game became increasingly popular. Subsequent conventions attracted more teams. The Civil War caused membership to decrease but helped introduce the game to southern parts of the United States. The membership of the National Association of Base Ball Players increased to more than 300 members in 1867. Doc Adams' Legacy Adams was elected as Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Regulations during the March 1858 Base Ball Convention in which the National Association of Base Ball Players was formed. He resigned in 1862 and two years later the bound rule which he fought since 1857 was abolished.

He also resigned from the Knickerbockers in 1862 and played in his last base ball game in September 1875 in an "old-timers" match arranged by formed Knickerbocker James Whyte Davis. Adams died on January 3, 1899. Under Adams' presidency (1846-1862), the Knickerbocker Club became the model upon which all early clubs were organized. So dominant was the Knickerbocker Club during the 1840's and 1850's, that they transformed Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey into the first great center of Baseball activity in the United States.

Question: Which sport is played under Cartwright Rules
Answer: Baseball